AC Service Directory

Archive for December 4th, 2009

The most difficult part of your business plan can be figuring how much you are worth.

I find it amazing that so many service people can go into business without calculating the value of their product, which is THEM. The most common way that most service providers set their rates is by finding out what others charge and setting their rates in the same range, or sometimes under everyone else’s.

That’s not the correct way to set your rates. Just as there is a difference between McDonald’s and Wendy’s, there is a difference between you and your competitors.
You need to delineate that difference.

Many experts want to tell you that you need to figure out what you are worth to your clients. While that can be true, I choose to approach it from a different angle, because if you ask your clients what you are worth, they may tell you a million dollars, but they wouldn’t be willing to pay that amount. It seems to be human nature to underestimate for you to underestimate your own worth. We’ve all heard the story of the job candidate who is told that he’ll be paid what he’s worth and he says he’s already making that much at his current job.

Before you start to market yourself and your services, calculate how much you need to make to live the life that you want. That amount should include panning for your future. Figure out what that is on an hourly basis. After you do that, you need to decide if you can command those kinds of fees.. To test that, ask a trusted advisor or former client for their opinion. If they truly don’t think that you can, then you must either beef up your knowledge or find a supplementary form of income in your chosen field. If the answer is that you can improve your knowledge, then you want to know what is valuable to your clients. Then find a way to solve their problem. This is to be your number one marketing strategy. Most people want to believe they aren’t smart enough, energetic enough, or creative enough to find solutions. Trust me, you are!

So your marketing strategy will be to find out what your clients feel would be invaluable to them and to provide it to them. By doing that, you can set your fees wherever you need them to be. You’ll be in demand, making the amount of money that you want to make. Your reputation will be terrific and everyone will think you really have your act together. You won’t be just like everyone else.

How do you find out what your clients want? First, ASK THEM. Then improve your listening skills so that when they start to lament about something that isn’t available to them, you can make a note of it and do some research to find out whatever you can. You will know when they are “lamenting” because they will usually (but not always) sound whiney, or frustrated. There will be a story that goes with it. If your listening skills aren’t good and you’ve asked them but they didn’t tell you, don’t despair! There are other ways!

Start looking online at forums and discussion boards to see what people in your industry are talking about and looking for.

Read newspaper articles and periodicals specific to your industry. Just because someone else has found a solution doesn’t mean that you can’t use the solution as well.

Talk to people in related industries because sometimes potential clients won’t talk to you, but they may be talking to someone else. For instance, I know an air conditioning company who didn’t complain about changing filters for their elder customers, but the local handyman heard about it. He mentioned in passing that he was going to start a service to change these filters. The A/C man jumped on it and immediately sent out a notice to all of his customers saying that for a very small annual fee his company would supply and change their filters and they would never have to worry about their units freezing again. It was as much a hit with their working clients as their elderly clients and it added about 10% net profit to his business.

Talk to everyone. Even if your brother-in-law doesn’t need your services as an accountant, his boss may need you to solve something that his CPA doesn’t or is too lazy to solve. Someone who wants to make money and make a difference (you) will find a way

So before you go out and start talking, start listening. Listening is a big part of the research you need in order to have a successful marketing plan and it will go a long way to helping you have a successful business.